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Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board
Yakima Mako Saddles (long, sorry)
Posted By: Thomas Duncan In Response To: Re: women loading boats (Alex M)
Date: Saturday, 27 August 2005, at 7:13 p.m.
My friend's car broke down so we took mine this morning to head for the coast and wash away a week of work. We took his Mako saddles and rollers off and put them on my crossbars beside my Landshark saddles. That was the first time I ever experienced the Mako saddles. These are the ones that have a slot for the straps. They are very springy. I could see how they would absorb wind loads if you strapped them as diagrammed on Yakima's site. But I gotta tell you, on my car, we looped the straps right around the crossbar on the inside, between the boats, and over the kayak, and back under the foot tower of the racks on the outside, cinched them up, half hitched them under the buckles, then tied off the tag end of the straps to the crossbars with multiple half hitches. I would never go with just straps around the Mako cradles. I don't know what kind of special stuff they are made of, and again, I am not trying to denigrate Yakima's products, but bounce and flex?!!?!?! No thanks. Bow and stern lines calm the bounce down, but no way am I driving down the road with boats hopping up and down and flexing on the roof. I've seen reports of those saddles breaking before, but can't recall where. Probably here. If you compress the boat into the saddles with straps that are around the crossbar on the inside and outside, you eliminate the ability for them to develop any bounce up and down. Bow and stern lines further stabilize them. When I car top, I want the boats and racks to become one with the car, cross winds be damned. YMMV.
On the other hand, I've seen a lot of what I consider lazily and unsafely tied down boats. I've followed people (at a good distance) and watched boats move side to side. Never seen one come off, but I know they do sometimes. I think one can get away with a lot in cartopping, but it is up to each of us to ensure we are doing our best to prevent any calamities. I've said it before, and I will say it again, if I ever launch a boat on the highway, and God forbid, hurt someone or cause or have a wreck myself, I want to be able to look the trooper in the eye and say I did everything I could to prevent it.
Regarding crosswinds, and I know I may be considered a jackass for saying this--so please understand I am taking this effort out of care and charity--if the wind is blowing so hard as to move a car sideways when cartopping, then maybe that should be considered an unsuitable weather day for getting to the launch. Judgment and risk assessment are skills equally important to paddling as rolling or bracing or anything else, and the decision to go should not necessarily be assessed starting only at the launch site, in my humble opinion. Getting there and back is part of the trip. I'm not pointing fingers at anyone in particular, nor am I sitting on a moral high horse passing judgment. I've done a lot of things in my own learning experiences that I now recognize as being foolhardy. But if I learn better, there is value even in making mistakes.
I hope I've stated my feelings about this well, I'm not always the most diplomatic. I feel strongly about cartopping security, probably because it worries me personally. I've made my own white knuckle drives to the put in. Maybe I'm just paranoid. Please understand that I am not trying to make anyone feel inferior or stupid or anything else. Nor do I think I necessarily have the best answers. If anyone thinks something I am doing or writing about is unnecessary or wrong here or elsewhere, please point it out, and why, and what I could do better. We're all willing to listen and learn or else we wouldn't post to these forums seeking advice or sharing our experiences.
I think the further advice about applying some type of friction materials (foam, carpet, bike tape, etc) to the outriggers, and using a good angle to hold the bow to the crossbar when lifting the stern is spot on. Outrigger bar extensions do work, but the solution has to be adapted to particular cases sometimes. If the bow of the boat rises at such an angle that it is just impossible to hold on the outrigger, what if you put the bow toggle loop around the outrigger and let it hang from the loop as you lift the stern?
Hope this helps. Getting our boats loaded is surely one of the most hateful things about getting a trip going. They are just plain unwieldy things to handle by one's self. Heaviest 55 lbs I ever lifted, in fact.
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